Claimed by My Bully Alpha Chapter 334

Caleb’s P.O.V

I nod, looking over at Damien, my jaw tight. "I want to talk to you too," I say, trying to keep my voice steady. There's too much on my mind, and having this conversation with him is long overdue. But I can’t forget about Caroline, standing there, her brow furrowed, clearly still on edge. "Caroline," I say, turning to her.

“You can relax. Go back inside. We’re not going to be fighting anytime soon." I flash her a quick, half-hearted smile, hoping to reassure her, though I’m not entirely convinced myself.

Caroline’s gaze doesn’t soften, and she crosses her arms over her chest, her stance defiant. "You think I’m worried about the fighting?" she asks, her voice sharp, cutting through the air between us. "No, Caleb. I’m not worried about that. What I’m worried about is what the two of you are hiding from me."

The words hang in the air, heavier than I expected. It feels like she’s seeing through us, digging into something we’ve been trying to keep buried. For a moment, I stand there, my thoughts racing, but I force myself to stay calm. "We’re not hiding anything," I reply, doing my best to keep the tension out of my voice. "We just need to discuss a few things. That’s all."

But before Caroline can open her mouth to argue, Damien steps in, his voice cutting through the quiet between us. "It’s alright if she knows," he says, meeting my eyes with a look that I can’t quite read. "We’re a team, Caleb. She should know."

I feel my heart tighten in my chest, and I glance over at Caroline, her eyes narrowing. The words come out before I can stop them, the concern lacing my voice more than I intended. "It’s not that simple," I mutter, trying to explain myself. "I’m just... worried. I don’t want Caroline to say anything to Aurora, not yet. I don’t want her to worry about it just yet."

Caroline, clearly frustrated now, steps forward. "You’re acting like I’m a child who can’t keep a secret," she snaps, her tone colder than I expected. "I can handle it. If you two want to talk about whatever it is, fine. But don’t treat me like I’m not part of this."

I stood there, frozen, listening to Caroline’s voice echo around us. The tension in the air felt like a live wire, and I knew this wasn’t going to end well. She was talking about the past, about how she’d been around us for what felt like ages. I could hear the sharpness in her tone as she looked at us, especially at me. Caroline never let her guard down, not really. But now? Now, she was pushing, prodding, trying to get us to spill something.

"I’ve been around you all for a long time, and I hardly ever slip up. It’s usually Caleb who finally confesses things to Aurora," Caroline said, her eyes flicking between me and Damien, almost daring one of us to say something, to defend ourselves. There it was—the accusation, the tension, the unspoken history hanging in the air between us. And I could feel it. The urge to defend myself, to brush it all off, but I knew better.

I wince at her words, but Damien holds up a hand to try to calm things down. "Look, it’s not about not trusting you," he says, his voice surprisingly gentle. "We just need to be careful with this. There’s a lot going on, and some things... well, some things might be too much to handle right now." He looks at me, and I can see the weight of it all in his eyes.

I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Damien’s right," I mutter, trying to explain in a way that doesn’t feel like I’m pushing Caroline away. "There are just things we need to figure out first. Things that could make things harder for all of us."

“So you guys don’t trust me enough to share!”

But before I could say anything—before this awkward silence could turn into something worse—Damien’s voice sliced through the air. "Enough," he said, his deep tone commanding. "These things don’t matter right now. We’re here for an important discussion, and it’s not about past grievances." His eyes darted between Caroline and me before he continued. "It’s about the recent rogue attack on our packs."

I turned to face Damien, feeling the change in the air as he took control of the conversation. The tension that had been building up between us seemed to dissipate, but only momentarily. Caroline’s face twisted in confusion, and I saw her take a step forward, her eyes narrowing with curiosity. She crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not impressed with the sudden shift in topic.

"What do you mean by 'packs'?" she asked, her voice dripping with skepticism. "Was Damien’s pack attacked as well?"

Damien didn’t flinch. His eyes met Caroline’s without hesitation. He took a slow breath before speaking again, his words deliberate. "It wasn’t exactly an attack," he said, his voice steady, but there was a dark edge to it. "A few rogues—four in total—managed to get through our defenses. They came in and started attacking, but we took care of them fairly easily. But… the end result was the same."

There was a pause, a beat of silence, and I could feel the weight of what Damien was about to say settle over us. Caroline’s eyes widened slightly, a flicker of unease crossing her face. She wasn’t expecting this. None of us were. I knew it, and Damien’s next words confirmed that.

"Black blood," Damien continued, his voice dropping lower, almost as if the words themselves were dangerous to speak. "Their bodies decayed at a phenomenal rate. We’ve never seen anything like it before."

I felt a chill run down my spine at his words. It wasn’t just the rogue attack that was unsettling—it was the aftermath. The black blood. The rapid decay. Something wasn’t right. We were all caught in the same storm, and none of us knew where it would lead.

Caroline opened her mouth, but for once, she didn’t seem to have anything to say. Her mind was racing, I could see it in her eyes. I could hear her trying to make sense of it, trying to connect the dots that were scattered around us. But the thing was, none of us knew what to make of it either. This was new. And it was dangerous.

The air was heavy with unspoken questions, and I could feel the weight of it all. I shifted my weight, looking at Damien, then at Caroline. Whatever was going on, we were all in this together. And somehow, that didn’t make me feel better. It made me feel like we were all standing on the edge of something much worse.